scrappy lampshade tutorial (and long story)

awhile back i found this beautiful lampshade skeleton. i knew immediately it would hang above the girls’ window seat in their room, but not sure yet what form it would actually take.

so i started with some pretty silk chantung, ruffled with raw edges. i thought it would be the perfect girly addition to the girls’ room. but then i had to take it a step further.

meet the fiesta FAIL. i thought it needed more color, the white was too plain and clean.

so the lamp shade sat and sat and sat on top of lily’s dresser, waiting for me to actually hang it up in their room.

but i couldn’t stand it!

then at the queen bee market in may i saw april’s beautiful booth and her hanging, naked lampshades! i knew right away that this is what i wanted to do! i was woo’ed by the pretty, bare lampshade when i first saw it, and i was reminded by april that i could leave it just like that!

so i went home and ripped off all that hideousness (and apparently didn’t even bother to pull off the stray threads!).

and i loved it. I loved it. the girls, not so much. they kept asking when i was going to finish the shade.

then last week when we were in santa barbara, i snuck away for an hour to go to anthro *sigh*. as i was running and leaping over puddles back to my car in the downpour, i passed the free people store, and something caught my eye. it was raining too hard to take out my phone (plus i forgot an umbrella), but they had lanterns, like the paper covered round chinese lanterns, but without the paper and only the skeleton. but there were strands of fabric (i think – it was seriously for about 1/2 a second i glanced at it!) strung between the wire frame pieces of the lantern and then *light bulb* i had an idea for the girls lampshade!

so i grabbed my scissors and a pile of scrap strips (i have a ton of these from all my ruffles).

the strips were all random lengths and widths, but mostly between 1 and 2 inches wide.

first step: knot on end of the fabric to a bar. tricky, i know.

step 2: pull fabric to nearest bar and tie there, with a little tension. i just tried to make sure the fabric was not twisted between the bars so the front of the fabric was facing out. then i trimmed the end and started over again.

step 3: do it over and over and over again. go to bed, then do more the next day.

how fun is that?! the girls are super happy with it. so am i!

and look at it at night! soooo fun!

but even better, look at the shadows it creates – a cross between a spider web and a snowflake!

look at all those fun colors!

i love seeing all the pretty fabrics that i’ve used over the last year or so on fun products.

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Comments

Lindsey, I’m gasping at how beautiful that is!! Two of my daughters share a room and that would be lovely in their room. I’ve read your blog for awhile now, and I enjoy the mix of post you write. I would love to see a blog post on how you manage to get so much accomplished in a day. I opened up an etsy shop and have three kiddos and work part time. Sometimes I find it hard to keep it all balanced. Thanks!

This is a project that if you just described it to me, in words, I’d look at you like you were crazy. Seeing it, though, it looks really cute for a little girls room! I’m imagining how cool it would me in a monochromatic scheme, too — like, white laces and sheer fabrics? Very creative and fun!

I LOVE this!! I have to say I was a little scared of the first one ; ) But this really is SO stinkin’ cute!! Perfect for a little girl’s room, but I could see it elsewhere as well!
~Rachelhttp://www.silverliningdecor.blogspot.com

Oh my goodness! That is awesome! I am going to run and find a lampshade rip all the fabric off and cover it in strips of fabric immediatley! Wow. This may be the coolest project ever! Love love love! Amazing work! You are so dang creative I can’t stand it!

Oh my gosh I LOVE it! If I ever come across one of those skeletons now I have some great inspiration! Itd be great for my girls room b/c they love to play with my fabric scraps. I could even let them help me make it:)
XO,
Sarah

that turned out so cute!! I too loved the all white ruffle, and of course I still love the bare urban style one {which I have a large one hanging over my dining room table}, but that ripped and tied fabric pieces…totally adorable for a girls room. I love it at night too. nice job Linds!

I LOVE it! I am such a fabric person and this is a great way to showcase some of your favorites! It’s so funny that you posted this today, because I also posted about using a skeleton lamp shade this week. Only I turned mine in toa hair bow holder.

oh i LOVE this! so cute. you know what’s fun about using fabric scraps that you have right now, is that when these fabrics have retired, you’ll look at this lampshade and remember *this season* of your life. the fabrics you use every day, all the sewing, the kids, etc. i’ve done this on projects and when i look at the fabrics i always think, aww that was my favorite. very cute lindsey, now if i could only find a nake lampshade!!!

Is it terrible to admit that I actually preferred the “fiesta FAIL”?! I love the creativity of the current incarnation, but preferred the aesthetic of the previous version. Either way, you’re way more creative than i am. :)

Beautiful! I love the colours and I love that it was a ‘long story’ to get you here! I love reading about how people had something in mind, changed their minds and then the final product is dreamy!
L.O.V.E. your blog:)

Well I haven’t done a lot of smiling lately because my mom died on March 2, 2011 but this made me smile I love your little zippered clutches I sew bags but haven’t touched my machine since 2 weeks before my mom died no time. I am originally from the central coast so to hear you talk about Santa Barbara was nice as well it brought back some fond memories of camping at lake Cachuma . Thank you for the smile.

This is awesome. I have 2 bare lamps in my daughters’ room (I have 4 daughters, 3 of which share a room) and this would be perfect! I just re-did their room. I painted the walls white and put peace sign stickers on the wall along with some of my glitter art. This would be a perfect finish for their room.

Found this on Pinterest and have been pinning it everywhere! ADORABLE! I can’t wait to try this myself and I’m NOT a crafty girl … you made it look “do-able”.
Thanks so much and keep all those blogs and ideas coming.
Folks like you give the rest of us hope!

I loved this idea so went straight to the grotty old lamp in my daughter’s room and cut off the plastic backed cotton covering so that I could do the same…but it didn’t have vertical supports in the frame. Oops!
So I improvised and tied my strips from top to bottom instead! I sectioned the top and bottom ’rounds’ into thirds, layout my colours in one long line and sectioned them into thirds, and off I went.
I wish I could show you a photo! It looks fantastic.
Thanks for the inspiration. :D

great results and love how u are open to ur environment and surroundings..i have a naked bulb on a wire and a shade…but…im wondering..guess u had to re build ur light after putting the shade on..where can i find how to do that without risking a fire hazard ?…lol

we actually hadn’t hung a fixture in that spot yet, so we were able to add the shade while we were hardwiring the fixture in. i am not sure the exact best way to do it, but i always do a google search first. i’m sure you could even find some video tutorials!

I liked both the white ruffle shade and the final one. I could see the white one in a ladies bedroom. I have a frame that I have kept for years that is now going to be covered, having found this wonderful idea. Thanks for sharing.

Your lampshade is fantastic and far better than the typical, boring, white one that you get from a store. I read the comment about not being able to use this idea in a boy’s room, but what if you did it in denim? Old worn out jeans still have some life in them and might be pretty amazing in a boy’s room, especially if you use various shades of faded denim. Just a thought.

unfortunately, thats one of the colors i don’t know the name of! i have used a color called mermaid’s net by behr that i love, and used on our sofa table. definitely check that out, its pretty close to the girls’ wall color.

I guess I’m weird, but I like the white one with the colored trim much better!
But if I were to make the other one I was wondering if you couldn’t just tie all of the strips together then sort of weave the long strip around the bars. I guess you’d want to make a ball out of it to make the weaving easier. Thanks for the idea.

The lamp shade is so whimsical; so lively with color! Absolutely, one of the most creative items I’ve seen made with scraps of fabric. You, go, girl, your creativity is awesome!
Marilyn from Sacramento

p.s. you have given me an idea for covering a lampshade that I need in my living room… I have made a “collage” of crazy patchwork with embellishments and I am wondering if I can do a lampshade the same way… I never thought of making my own lampshade until I saw yours… you have given me inspiration for another project!

I LOVE IT… So nice…
I want to do the same but tie them onto a curtain rod and now can make a matching lamp shade on a small in the light low watt lamp. Would like to do this in my bathroom but I’m not sure how I would have the shower curtain match. Not sure how I would do a shower curtain on this idea. ANY IDEAS HERE? I have been looking all over to see how to make my own shade. I did read that fabric and paper can catch fire. One site said spray a Flame retardant on your fabric before you use it so won’t catch fire.
Then I seen another one that said using anything for the lamp shade itself other than special lamp shade paper will cause a fire. Paper you use to stick on your fabric so it is safe from fire is called, Pressure Sensitive Styene. Can be bought online at lampshop.com
I leave most of my lamps on for long periods of time. Sometimes we go out and leave a few on as well. Just be sure to check the fabric if its not protected or that special lampshade backing isn’t on it and make sure it’s not getting hot. Don’t leave it on when your not at home. Thank you for the great idea…

I just love the shade and thinking that I will make it for my sewing room I have a lamp beside my sewing machine and I think that it will give me more light to see by as well as making my room more of me. Male counter part Terry

Such a cute idea. We have all ceiling recessed lighting in this house and I only own one actual floor lamp….sigh. But the first shade you made ..the white with the decorative trim around the bottom is more my style if I were to make one. Its more elegant… The other a little too messy for me.

i didn’t spray it with anything, mostly because the light bulb was pretty far from the fabric, as in a standard lamp shade, but that is a great suggestion. as for taking care of that now, well we’ve since sold the house and that shade has been down for quite awhile as my son had moved into that room! enjoy your project!